Do I have to change? Yes. That is the short answer. People want to know if they can be Christian and still maintain habits they had before they became a Christian and the answer is probably no, you can not. Ok, let's do the natural-spiritual thing to help you understand.
The Natural: You might be too young for a really "serious (like headed towards marriage)" relationship but I can tell you how it goes. You get to know someone (by talking to them, are you talking to God?), they get to know you, you fall in love with the person, does it change you? Well, yeah, it should. For example, my husband hates onions. When we first met and started dating, I loved onions. I could literally eat onions on any and everything. However, because I knew that he hated onions (particularly the smell of them), I stopped eating onions. I could give up something that I really liked because I love him more than I like onions. Now that was a really simple example but let me make it a little bit deeper. Because I love my husband, I don't say things to hurt him, I don't lie to him, I share with him, I cook (although I NEVER did before), I tell him how great he is, I don't have "relations" with other men, etc. I think you get the point. If you don't, the point is that when you love someone, really really love them you make changes in your life to accommodate or to better fit the relationship.
The Spiritual: Once you are in a relationship with Christ, YOU (God does not force you) make changes to protect and preserve that relationship. What is your motivation for changing? LOVE. The bible has been translated in multiple ways but two of them are that the Love of Christ "constrains" us and that the love of Christ "compels" us. (II Cor. 2:14). Either way it means that once we are in a love relationship with Christ, it will have an impact on our behavior Some people observe religious rituals dominated by fear, everything they do, they do because they are scared of something, generally of going to hell. But no where in the bible does it say that fear in the sense of being scared is an acceptable reason to change. In fact the bible specifically states that fear is a spirit that does not come from God (and if not from God, where? And do you really want it?). God makes it soooo simple for us by saying if you love me, keep my commandments. In other words, if you love me, if we are in love, don't do anything that would hurt me.
So how do you know whether or not your actions will be offensive to God? There are 3 ways:
#1. Does the bible say stop doing it? You probably need to go ahead and stop then.
#2. Does it hurt another person? God is not going to be pleased with you doing anything that causes physical or emotional injury to another person (hello out there all you bullys, you better stop torturing peoples kids, God is NOT happy with you).
#3. Did God tell you to stop? Back to the whole you MUST talk to God issue. Some things can actually be wrong for some people and not others. The only way you can find out what these things are for you is by communicating with God. For example, there are certain television shows that I can't watch. They are not inherently bad shows. They just take me personally to a bad place based on my life experiences. God told me to stop watching them and I stopped (ahem, ok well it was not quite that simple but I take editorial license here).
You are going to have to change but that is a good thing. Once you change, the results you have been getting can change and maybe, just maybe, you can be happy and at peace.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Everytime I try to talk to God, I get hungry (or have to use the bathroom or sleepy)
Many of us are trying to talk to God and hear God talk to us for the first time in our lives and something very strange is going on. We could watch a "The Game" (or insert the name of your favorite show) marathon for like 8 hours without ever having to go to the bathroom, get a snack or take a nap but trying to have a 15 minute discussion with God feels like going to the dentist to have a tooth pulled (or getting your braces tightened, ugh). What is really going on?
Well a few simple things, first, we are flesh and blood human beings. While we have a spirit that is becoming more alive as we connect to Christ, our flesh is probably still very much alive to. When people refer to the part of you that is "the flesh" they mean the nature of a human being which is always against God. The flesh is the part of you that just wants to do what makes you feel good (or at least makes you think you feel good). It does not know or want to know any God besides itself. It is the part of you that says "I run things around here." The part of you that is spirit is the part of you that will connect to God but the part of you that is flesh is much more likely to fall asleep.
Don't worry, it's not just you, Jesus told his disciples to be alert and pray because even though THEY were disciples and had been with him for a long period of time, the flesh was still weak. In fact Jesus said "the spirit is willing (meaning it wants to connect to God and do what God says) but the flesh is weak (meaning it will be sleepy, hungry and have to go to the potty). Look that passage up, it is in Matthew 26:41.
Add your weak flesh with the fact that many of us are just trying this for the first time and we have a recipe for disaster.
THE BIBLE SAYS: It wasn't so long ago that you were all into your old nasty life of sin. You let the world (meaning the people who don't know and are not committed to God), which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief (meaning you took in all of the crazy stuff on TV, music, in magazines, video games, the internet, etc.), and then exhaled disobedience (as a result of all the stuff you took in what you put out was the opposite of what God wants from you). We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. (Ephesians 2: 1-6, this is my twist on the message bible translation. Everyone else is making up translations, I figured I would get in on the action).
Ok so what have we learned? One, we are wrapped in flesh which wants to do it's own thing at all times and does not want to give in to what God wants. Two, we just came out of doing the absolute crazy. All of us no matter how long we have been "saved" or giving our lives to Christ were just doing the fool not long ago. So we have two things we need to do that will help us pray. First, recognize that getting to where you want to be may take some time. You spent such a long time stuck on stupid, give yourself a minute to get in gear going in the right direction. Second, KEEP TRYING! Your flesh has the most control over you when you let it do whatever it wants to do. The more you work on living like Jesus and connecting with God, the less your flesh will be able to boss you around (we will talk more about this flesh problem another day).
Here are some practical tips:
1. Try some worship music to set the mood for your talks with God. There is lots of good worship music but some of my favoirte artists are: Kari Jobe, Hillsong, Gateway Worship, Israel and New Breed, Julie Meyer, Chris Tomlin, Youthful Praise, Byron Cage, Smokie Norful, Mandisa, Kurt Carr and alot more. We will dedicate a whole post to good Christian music one day.
2. Use the bathroom, eat a snack, silence your phone and take a nap before you start having your conversation with God.
3. Use the clock. Force yourself to stick to a certain time.
4. Read the bible, the more you know about God and Jesus Christ, the easier it is for you to pray. You gotta start reading that bible.
5. Use the A.C.T.S. model from yesterdays post.
Ok, now get to praying and remember to leave us comments telling us how it is going. If you are having issues, someone else is having the same ones and we are here to help!
Well a few simple things, first, we are flesh and blood human beings. While we have a spirit that is becoming more alive as we connect to Christ, our flesh is probably still very much alive to. When people refer to the part of you that is "the flesh" they mean the nature of a human being which is always against God. The flesh is the part of you that just wants to do what makes you feel good (or at least makes you think you feel good). It does not know or want to know any God besides itself. It is the part of you that says "I run things around here." The part of you that is spirit is the part of you that will connect to God but the part of you that is flesh is much more likely to fall asleep.
Don't worry, it's not just you, Jesus told his disciples to be alert and pray because even though THEY were disciples and had been with him for a long period of time, the flesh was still weak. In fact Jesus said "the spirit is willing (meaning it wants to connect to God and do what God says) but the flesh is weak (meaning it will be sleepy, hungry and have to go to the potty). Look that passage up, it is in Matthew 26:41.
Add your weak flesh with the fact that many of us are just trying this for the first time and we have a recipe for disaster.
THE BIBLE SAYS: It wasn't so long ago that you were all into your old nasty life of sin. You let the world (meaning the people who don't know and are not committed to God), which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief (meaning you took in all of the crazy stuff on TV, music, in magazines, video games, the internet, etc.), and then exhaled disobedience (as a result of all the stuff you took in what you put out was the opposite of what God wants from you). We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. (Ephesians 2: 1-6, this is my twist on the message bible translation. Everyone else is making up translations, I figured I would get in on the action).
Ok so what have we learned? One, we are wrapped in flesh which wants to do it's own thing at all times and does not want to give in to what God wants. Two, we just came out of doing the absolute crazy. All of us no matter how long we have been "saved" or giving our lives to Christ were just doing the fool not long ago. So we have two things we need to do that will help us pray. First, recognize that getting to where you want to be may take some time. You spent such a long time stuck on stupid, give yourself a minute to get in gear going in the right direction. Second, KEEP TRYING! Your flesh has the most control over you when you let it do whatever it wants to do. The more you work on living like Jesus and connecting with God, the less your flesh will be able to boss you around (we will talk more about this flesh problem another day).
Here are some practical tips:
1. Try some worship music to set the mood for your talks with God. There is lots of good worship music but some of my favoirte artists are: Kari Jobe, Hillsong, Gateway Worship, Israel and New Breed, Julie Meyer, Chris Tomlin, Youthful Praise, Byron Cage, Smokie Norful, Mandisa, Kurt Carr and alot more. We will dedicate a whole post to good Christian music one day.
2. Use the bathroom, eat a snack, silence your phone and take a nap before you start having your conversation with God.
3. Use the clock. Force yourself to stick to a certain time.
4. Read the bible, the more you know about God and Jesus Christ, the easier it is for you to pray. You gotta start reading that bible.
5. Use the A.C.T.S. model from yesterdays post.
Ok, now get to praying and remember to leave us comments telling us how it is going. If you are having issues, someone else is having the same ones and we are here to help!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
All you have to do is A.C.T.S.!
The bible gives you a simple model for praying which you can think of as the A.C.T.S. model, you wanna hear it, here it go:
A.doration- Use the bulk of your talk time here. This means that you get all cakey with God, just like you do (which some of you need to stop but that is for another day) with members of the opposite sex. So you say things like: God I love you, you are the best, you are wonderful, you are kind, you have shown me mercy, you make me smile, you are my happiness, when I'm with you, nothing else matters, I want to give you everything I got, etc. etc. etc. Tell God how he makes you feel, what you think of him, what you want to give him. Just pour it on. It is at this stage of talking (and listening) that you will get God's attention and once you have God's attention, he will invite you to come closer to him and you will FEEL the difference. You might start crying or speaking in tongues or trembling or any number of things. Just like you start to feel good when someone you care about says beautiful things about you, God feels the same way about you. AND, the best part is, God WILL talk back to you and tell you all the wonderful things he thinks about you. I promise you, nothing can prepare you to be loved up by God. It is thee BEST feeling, you wont even know what to do with yourself. You really must try this right away, this is the part where you and God fall in love and get seriously booed up!
C.onfession- Most people think of this part of prayer as confessing “sins.” But the truth, I believe, is that here you should be open and honest and tell God about some things that you might not think of as sins. If you want to get the most out of this part ask God what you need to confess. This part does not always involve lying and cursing and cheating (though these things are no-brainers which must be confessed and turned away from). Many times this part involves having a dirty nasty attitude with your parents, teachers (and for the adults your supervisors and co-workers) and peers. Sometimes this involves saying hurtful things about people because you really thought it was a funny thing to say. You may need to confess that you are depressed, lazy, jealous, wasteful with time and money and a lot of other things. The more you learn about Jesus Christ, the more you can confess and turn away from (or repent) things that are not like Jesus. Please remember we are Christians and while we are not yet perfect we are trying to live lives like Jesus lived. Keep your eyes on the prize, we are trying to get like Jesus.
T.hanksgiving- Ok so after you finish with all the yucky stuff, it’s time to get back to the fun, giving God thanks. This part should be easy, all you need to do is thank God for everything. Get creative with it, thank God for your food, clothes, electricity, friends, parents, intelligence, grades, athletic ability, etc. Think of any and everything good or necessary that you have and give God excited thanks for it. You can even praise God, bless God, extol God for every good or perfect thing in your life. The bible says all good and perfect things come from your Father in heaven, so tell him THANK YOU!
S.upplication- This is where many people start and end. Fail. This is the part where you ask for stuff and the rules are simple. Follow the rest of the model, after you have worshiped, confessed and given thanks you should be hearing from God clearly. So the FIRST thing you should ask God is what to ask for. You may have things that you think you want but trust me, you don’t want anything that God does not want for you. Think about it, God is all knowing so if God does not want you to have something, you better believe there is a really good reason why not. So while you may really want some good looking guy or girl to pay you attention, that may not be what God wants for you. God knows if most of us got too much attention from other people, God would get NONE (and then your life would be all messed up again and you would have to start back at the first blog post). It’s ok to ask for things you need or want but just be willing to agree with what God wants for you above all else.
You want to know how this looks in the bible? It is in Matthew Chapter 6, verses 9-13.
Here are a couple of translations:
First the amplified which happens to be my favorite interpretation of this passage:
Pray like this: Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name. 10 Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven. 11 Give us the bread we need for today. 12 Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us. 13 And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one. (MSG)
9Pray then like this:"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.13Andlead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (ESV)
(You see how many ways there are to read the bible, I got all these off the web at www.biblegateway.com)
Ok, so that is a lot to go over for today. For all the beginners, use the A.C.T.S. model to do a 15 min prayer today. You can do it! Just really get into the adoration part, that will open the door to everything else. Leave a comment here or on Facebook, let us know how it is going.
A.doration- Use the bulk of your talk time here. This means that you get all cakey with God, just like you do (which some of you need to stop but that is for another day) with members of the opposite sex. So you say things like: God I love you, you are the best, you are wonderful, you are kind, you have shown me mercy, you make me smile, you are my happiness, when I'm with you, nothing else matters, I want to give you everything I got, etc. etc. etc. Tell God how he makes you feel, what you think of him, what you want to give him. Just pour it on. It is at this stage of talking (and listening) that you will get God's attention and once you have God's attention, he will invite you to come closer to him and you will FEEL the difference. You might start crying or speaking in tongues or trembling or any number of things. Just like you start to feel good when someone you care about says beautiful things about you, God feels the same way about you. AND, the best part is, God WILL talk back to you and tell you all the wonderful things he thinks about you. I promise you, nothing can prepare you to be loved up by God. It is thee BEST feeling, you wont even know what to do with yourself. You really must try this right away, this is the part where you and God fall in love and get seriously booed up!
C.onfession- Most people think of this part of prayer as confessing “sins.” But the truth, I believe, is that here you should be open and honest and tell God about some things that you might not think of as sins. If you want to get the most out of this part ask God what you need to confess. This part does not always involve lying and cursing and cheating (though these things are no-brainers which must be confessed and turned away from). Many times this part involves having a dirty nasty attitude with your parents, teachers (and for the adults your supervisors and co-workers) and peers. Sometimes this involves saying hurtful things about people because you really thought it was a funny thing to say. You may need to confess that you are depressed, lazy, jealous, wasteful with time and money and a lot of other things. The more you learn about Jesus Christ, the more you can confess and turn away from (or repent) things that are not like Jesus. Please remember we are Christians and while we are not yet perfect we are trying to live lives like Jesus lived. Keep your eyes on the prize, we are trying to get like Jesus.
T.hanksgiving- Ok so after you finish with all the yucky stuff, it’s time to get back to the fun, giving God thanks. This part should be easy, all you need to do is thank God for everything. Get creative with it, thank God for your food, clothes, electricity, friends, parents, intelligence, grades, athletic ability, etc. Think of any and everything good or necessary that you have and give God excited thanks for it. You can even praise God, bless God, extol God for every good or perfect thing in your life. The bible says all good and perfect things come from your Father in heaven, so tell him THANK YOU!
S.upplication- This is where many people start and end. Fail. This is the part where you ask for stuff and the rules are simple. Follow the rest of the model, after you have worshiped, confessed and given thanks you should be hearing from God clearly. So the FIRST thing you should ask God is what to ask for. You may have things that you think you want but trust me, you don’t want anything that God does not want for you. Think about it, God is all knowing so if God does not want you to have something, you better believe there is a really good reason why not. So while you may really want some good looking guy or girl to pay you attention, that may not be what God wants for you. God knows if most of us got too much attention from other people, God would get NONE (and then your life would be all messed up again and you would have to start back at the first blog post). It’s ok to ask for things you need or want but just be willing to agree with what God wants for you above all else.
You want to know how this looks in the bible? It is in Matthew Chapter 6, verses 9-13.
Here are a couple of translations:
First the amplified which happens to be my favorite interpretation of this passage:
9Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name.
10Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11Give us this day our daily bread.
12And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.
13And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Pray like this: Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name. 10 Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven. 11 Give us the bread we need for today. 12 Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us. 13 And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one. (MSG)
9Pray then like this:"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
10Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.13Andlead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. (ESV)
(You see how many ways there are to read the bible, I got all these off the web at www.biblegateway.com)
Ok, so that is a lot to go over for today. For all the beginners, use the A.C.T.S. model to do a 15 min prayer today. You can do it! Just really get into the adoration part, that will open the door to everything else. Leave a comment here or on Facebook, let us know how it is going.
How do you talk to GOD?
Did you try to talk to God yesterday? How did it go? It can be a difficult practice to begin for one obvious reason, you can't see God (or text, email, tweet or facebook God). Also, if you are not familiar with God's voice it can be really hard to hear God so sometimes you feel like you are in a one-sided conversation. But, don't fear because one thing you know for sure, God hears you. The question most people who are trying to talk to God for the first time want to know is HOW DO I TALK TO GOD (I mean it's GOD)???
Well the bible (the scary thing that you can't understand and fall asleep trying to read because all the words blend together on the page) does have some instructions about how to pray. The thing you need to keep in mind at all times as you are attempting to open the lines of communication between you and God is to keep it simple. People who have been to church get thrown off because we have heard people praying these super-deep prayers and we think we are supposed to be able to pray like that. Not true. Many times people praying in church are giving invocations, not basic prayer (we won't even get into what an invocation is, most adults probably are not even familiar with the term). The kind of prayer you need to embark on is simple communication, you are just going to start having conversations with God.
THE BIBLE SAYS: Did you know that the bible actually says, when you pray, keep it simple, don't use a bunch of extra words because God knows what you need anyway? (Matthew 6:7 ESV- English Standard Version, remember LOOK UP YOUR BIBLE TRANSLATIONS ONLINE! You don't have to read the King James version that most people can not understand). The bible also gives you a simple model for praying which you can think of as the A.C.T.S. model. Read the next post to get the A.C.T.S. model and find out how you can talk to God minus stress and/or boredom.
Well the bible (the scary thing that you can't understand and fall asleep trying to read because all the words blend together on the page) does have some instructions about how to pray. The thing you need to keep in mind at all times as you are attempting to open the lines of communication between you and God is to keep it simple. People who have been to church get thrown off because we have heard people praying these super-deep prayers and we think we are supposed to be able to pray like that. Not true. Many times people praying in church are giving invocations, not basic prayer (we won't even get into what an invocation is, most adults probably are not even familiar with the term). The kind of prayer you need to embark on is simple communication, you are just going to start having conversations with God.
THE BIBLE SAYS: Did you know that the bible actually says, when you pray, keep it simple, don't use a bunch of extra words because God knows what you need anyway? (Matthew 6:7 ESV- English Standard Version, remember LOOK UP YOUR BIBLE TRANSLATIONS ONLINE! You don't have to read the King James version that most people can not understand). The bible also gives you a simple model for praying which you can think of as the A.C.T.S. model. Read the next post to get the A.C.T.S. model and find out how you can talk to God minus stress and/or boredom.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
What Comes First?
God. God comes first. So, if you are out there and you are just getting started or re-started on this Christian journey, the very first thing you need to get worked out is your connection or relationship to and with God. Let's take some baby steps.
Ok, if you can understand things in the natural world, you will be able to understand things in the spiritual world where God exist (because God is a spirit not a flesh and blood human). So let's start with the natural world. When you first meet somebody (if we take their looks out of the equation), how do you get to know them? Right, you talk to them. By listening to the person talk you get information about the person: What does she like? What does she think about? What are her hopes and dreams? When you talk back, you give information to the person about yourself. The more information you give and receive the more you and the other person are exposing yourselves to each other. It is this mutual exposure that makes you feel all warm and flustered when you begin talking to someone of the opposite sex.
Mutual exposure is what keeps you on the phone until someone makes you hang up (and then you inappropriately sneak on your cell phone). One of our greatest desires is to know and be known. As humans (the non-dysfunctional ones) we crave connections, and the more connected we feel, the happier we are. Think about it, why is it so important to have friends when we are young, boyfriends when we get older, and spouses later on? It is because God made us for relationships. First God created us to be in a relationship with him but the whole Adam ate the dirty apple thing, then blamed Eve and tried to hide from God messed everything up. So because we as humans fell out of relationship with God we try to fill our need for relationships with other people.
So here comes the spiritual, the first thing you need is to connect with God by honestly exposing yourself to God, talking to God and allowing God to talk to you. God is ever present and if you are interested in striking up a conversation with him, you need to start talking and then you need to stop and listen, and then talk some more and then stop and listen and keep repeating this process until you and God are super-tight. This is the completely broken down baby food jar beginner lesson in starting your relationship with God. Tomorrow we are going to take some more steps and even discuss a scripture or two so brace yourselves. Today, if you have never talked to God start with 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes where you have some open and honest communication with God and wait to see if you can hear God talk back to you.
Tomorrow, we are going to go over steps you can take to effectively communicate with God. We want to maximize every opportunity you have to be in the presence of God and hear God's voice. But for today, lets take the first baby steps. Post here or on our Facebook page and let us know how it is going.
Ok, if you can understand things in the natural world, you will be able to understand things in the spiritual world where God exist (because God is a spirit not a flesh and blood human). So let's start with the natural world. When you first meet somebody (if we take their looks out of the equation), how do you get to know them? Right, you talk to them. By listening to the person talk you get information about the person: What does she like? What does she think about? What are her hopes and dreams? When you talk back, you give information to the person about yourself. The more information you give and receive the more you and the other person are exposing yourselves to each other. It is this mutual exposure that makes you feel all warm and flustered when you begin talking to someone of the opposite sex.
Mutual exposure is what keeps you on the phone until someone makes you hang up (and then you inappropriately sneak on your cell phone). One of our greatest desires is to know and be known. As humans (the non-dysfunctional ones) we crave connections, and the more connected we feel, the happier we are. Think about it, why is it so important to have friends when we are young, boyfriends when we get older, and spouses later on? It is because God made us for relationships. First God created us to be in a relationship with him but the whole Adam ate the dirty apple thing, then blamed Eve and tried to hide from God messed everything up. So because we as humans fell out of relationship with God we try to fill our need for relationships with other people.
So here comes the spiritual, the first thing you need is to connect with God by honestly exposing yourself to God, talking to God and allowing God to talk to you. God is ever present and if you are interested in striking up a conversation with him, you need to start talking and then you need to stop and listen, and then talk some more and then stop and listen and keep repeating this process until you and God are super-tight. This is the completely broken down baby food jar beginner lesson in starting your relationship with God. Tomorrow we are going to take some more steps and even discuss a scripture or two so brace yourselves. Today, if you have never talked to God start with 10 minutes. Just 10 minutes where you have some open and honest communication with God and wait to see if you can hear God talk back to you.
Tomorrow, we are going to go over steps you can take to effectively communicate with God. We want to maximize every opportunity you have to be in the presence of God and hear God's voice. But for today, lets take the first baby steps. Post here or on our Facebook page and let us know how it is going.
Monday, January 24, 2011
The Morning After
For all of the new converts who have just had their first experience with Jesus Christ and for all of the old converts who have just been reunited with the presence of God.
So you had an experience with God and it was wonderful. You felt God, you heard God, you cried, you shouted, you jumped, you passed out cold on the floor and they covered you with one of those sheets etc. God is like that. His presence is overwhelming. In it is the greatest joy you have ever experienced. Get close enough to God and you literally feel like you are bursting in pure ecstasy.
BUT, as much as we don’t want to, as much as we just want to stay right there, we have to re-enter this world. Once you come back you find that nothing has changed except for you. If you got triflin parents, they will still be triflin, your deadbeat Dad is still a deadbeat, shady friends are still shady, your boyfriend or girlfriend who you have been doing all kinds of ungodly things with is still out there, jobs are still annoying, money is still short, alcohol will still get you drunk and weed will still make you high, none of that has changed a bit.
You are doing your best to hang on to the feeling you just had but the longer you spend out here, the harder it is. You start to wonder if you didn’t just imagine it all because if that really happened why is everything else still the same? Well, you are focused on the wrong thing. The FIRST thing you must realize is that God wants to use YOU to accomplish his purpose. God does not have to change everything in your world because by changing you he is giving you the ability to change everything else.
In experiencing God you feel God’s power but in living the lifestyle of a real Christian you learn to exercise God’s power over everything around you. Here is a list of things you need to know if you are really going to make it and fulfill God’s plan for your life:
#1. Don’t be too hard on yourself. So it has been less than 24 hours and you have already made some mistakes. It’s really OK. Check to make sure you still have a pulse, are you breathing, are you able to read this? Well it’s OK then, you haven’t blown it. God is still interested in having a relationship with you.
#2. Conversion and repentance are first steps but now it’s time to take some more steps. God wants to have a relationship with you. You have relationships with friends, family members, members of the opposite sex and God wants to have a relationship with you. Think about it this way, there is no one who you are in a relationship with that you have only had one encounter with. It takes more than one time to get to know someone and it is the same way with God.
#3. You have to connect with God everyday. God does not change, the same God who came into your heart and turned your world upside down wants to be a part of your life on a daily basis.
#4. You need other people. If you don’t have a church, find one. You are who you hang with period, end of story. If all your time is spent with people who don’t know God doing things like there is no God, that is what you will become. If you find people who are practicing faith and trying to live this life, you will be able to make it.
#5. You don’t ALWAYS need other people. Until you can find a church group, remember that God is available to speak to you, to comfort you, protect you and stand up for you. You need to find people as soon as you can but until you do, God is enough!
#6. LAST- get a message bible right away. If you can’t buy a message bible, there are tons of message bible sites online. You can read the message bible at biblegateway.com and a number of other sites. Google it if you have to. Reading the King James Bible for most young people is like chewing glass, painful and unnecessary. You need to read the bible but get one that you can actually read.
Visit our Facebook page and this blog every single day to connect with other people like you online and to discuss issues that matter to you. Your time has come, the generation that was our hope for tomorrow is now the leader of today.
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